Seventh-day Adventist Satellite

FTA Satellite Systems

The channels indexed on this site are available for free on the Free-To- Air (FTA) satellite network.
The system needed to receive broadcasts from these satellites include a 30" satellite dish and mounting hardware, an LNBF, RG6 cable, and a receiver that connects to a TV.
Systems can be purchased from a variety of retailers.

3ABN and other channels use to recommend Glorystar Satellite Systems.
They have several different configurations, and last I checked, the basic system was about $250 when the cost of shipping is added on.
In my opinion, the Glorystar systems are more expensive and not as good as other options in my opinion.

I have purchased several systems from DishWorld.biz, an installer/retailer based in Salem, OR.
However, these systems will not come configured for the Adventist channels.

An Adventist company, SDAdish.com, is another good option.
They have complete satellite systems programmed with the Adventist channels and many helpful resources.

Installation

I am planning on adding a tutorial with pictures here in the future...

Aiming

It is nice to have the pole as vertically level as possible, but when aiming the dish I have found that it is far more helpful to use an angle finder on the LNBF arm of the dish.
The angle varies depending on the design of the dish, for my location in Oregon, the angles for a few dishes are as follows:

Dish

Degrees

3ABN Small (76cm)

~20

3ABN Large (100cm)

~27

Glorystar with arms (76cm)

~27

Winegard

~32

Once the elevation is set, you can simply pan back and forth until you find the satellite.
In Oregon it is at about 128 West, but that will vary with your location.

Receivers

I have tested several different FTA receivers in search for one that is inexpensive, easy to use, and dependable.
So far, I have been unhappy with most of the receivers I have tested for a variety of reasons.
Going back in time a few years, the Manhattan DSR-1500 was a great receiver; although there are still a number of these in operation, they are large, slow, and lacking in features.
The Topfield TF 6200F was popular for a number of years, but they don't seem to hold up well and have other issues.
Glorystar is currently selling one they call the GeoSatPro, which as far as I can tell is the CNX Nano 2 with a different sticker on the front.
Although it has recording capabilities, I don't like the programming or menu system on this unit.
I use the Traxis 3500, which is a simple, inexpensive unit that has been on the market for several years and seems to be high quality and dependable.
The new Traxis 4000 has all the good qualities of the 3500, adds HDMI output, fixes some bugs, and the EasyFind technology is great for any DIY homeowner.
The OpenBox S9 is a little bit more expensive receiver, but it has the best recording and time-shift (pause live TV) options that I have seen so far, it is a bit more difficult to setup though.

Testing

Here are my notes from testing several different receivers.

All tests against Galaxy 19 (97.0 W)
SonicView SV-360 Premier
Performance:
TP Scan: true
Sat Scan: 0:30 0
Blind Scan: 17:30 195
Power On: ~16 sec
Resume: ~1 sec
Channel Change: ~2 sec
Features:
Channel Search: true
Front USB Port: true
Grid View: true
Guide: true
Universal Remote: true
Zoom: true
Pros:
Channel editing screen combines delete, rename, move, and favorites in an easy to use way.
Displays channel information instantly when "surfing"
Pressing number key opens channel selection dialog, which I think works well.
Channel dialog tunes to channel with first press of "OK" button, and closes dialog with second press.
Resumes from standby very quickly.
Zoom feature allows easy selection of target area and backs out quickly.
Satellite setup and channel search combined into one screen that is relatively easy to use.
Very easy to schedule a recording.
Cons:
Blind scan is very slow (17+ minutes)
Grid view loads very slow (3 seconds * 9 channels).
No Coax output or antenna input and therefore no "TV/Sat" button.
Hangs for about 5 seconds when recording starts, audio also "pops" and "crackles" shortly after starting.
When resuming play of a recorded video, it takes about 2 seconds for the audio/video to sync.
No button to go directly to recording schedule, must navigate through the menu
Bugs:
Had to power off several times to fix internal memory errors and USB drive formatting errors.
Device locked when starting a scheduled recording.
Hangs after formatting a USB drive
Overall:
Not impressed
I wouldn't buy it again
Traxis DMS 3500
Performance:
TP Scan: true
Sat Scan: false
Auto/Blind Scan: 3:20 252
Power On: ~9 sec
Resume: ~9 sec
Channel Change: <2 sec
Features:
Zoom: true
Pros:
Very easy to use antenna setup and scanning: LNB type selector (Standard, Universal, and User), single TP scanning, quick auto/blind scan.
Found more channels than any other receiver I have used.
Antenna in, TV out, and "TV/Sat" button
Channel select dialog scrolls very quickly.
Adjustable transparent menus.
Receiver has 3 games (Snakes, Tetris, and Othello) that can be played in a transparent window while watching video.
Menus and navigation all work very well, smooth transitions.
Channel editing combines all option in one screen with channel preview. Can manually add a channel by adding video PiD and audio PiD.
Remote is simple
Favorites are simple to use
Cons:
Signal/quality bar is very sensitive (you have to get close before you get any signal strength), so it is difficult to use to find the satellite when adjusting the dish.
No USB port or SD card.
No PVR
Overall:
Small, simple, cheap
Cheapest receiver I have found
Traxis DMS 4000
Performance:
TP Scan: true
Sat Scan: true
Auto/Blind Scan: 4:03 315 (some channels were picked up on multiple TPs)
Power On: ~16 sec
Resume: ~13 sec
Channel Change: ~2 sec
Features:
Zoom: true
Pros:
Very similar to DBS 3500
Favorites list works correctly and is easy to use
The channel manager is more accessible (just press "OK" button), making it easier to edit channels
Very easy to use antenna setup and scanning: LNB type selector (Standard, Universal, and User), single TP scanning, quick auto/blind scan.
HDMI output is very nice for newer TVs
Channel select dialog scrolls very quickly.
Adjustable transparent menus.
Receiver has 3 games (Snakes, Tetris, and Othello) that can be played in a transparent window while watching video.
Menus and navigation all work very well, smooth transitions.
Channel editing combines all option in one screen with channel preview. Can manually add a channel by adding video PiD and audio PiD.
Remote is simple
Cons:
TV/Sat button doesn't work to switch to antenna input. Turning off the power switch on the back sometimes switches to the antenna input.
No USB port, SD card, or network connection.
No PVR
Overall:
Small, simple, cheap
Very easy to setup and use
HDMI output is very convenient for connecting to newer TVs
Pansat 250SM
Features:
Universal Remote: true
Performance:
TP Scan: true
Sat Scan:
Auto/Blind Scan: 9:13 154
Power On: ~9 sec
Resume: <3 sec
Channel Change: <2 sec
Record delay: ~2 sec
Pros:
Has channel search
Displays channel information instantly when "surfing"
Channel dialog tunes to channel with first press of "OK" button, and closes dialog with second press.
3 different grid view options that load without freezing and allow preview
Has seperate channel/volume up/down buttons on the remote
Cons:
Re-adds duplicate channels when scanning
Channel editing has a very small preview window and seems unintuitive
Menu navigation is a little clunky
USB port is only on the front and behind a panel
No option to rename recordings
No scheduling of recordings?
Bugs:
When resuming from power-down mode, the audio plays but the video is either garbled or stuck
Grid view froze several times both while loading and while opening preview
Channels sometimes freeze when switching (especially when using "last" button)
CNX Nano 2
Features:
Networking...doesn't seem very useful though
Performance:
TP Scan: true
Sat Scan: 55 sec 176
Auto/Blind Scan: 9:15 179
Power On: ~20 sec
Resume: ~3 sec
Channel Change: <2 sec
Record delay: ~1 sec
Pros:
Channel search is condensed into a single menu and works very well once explored
Channel editing features easy to use
Channel browse has nice features for sorting and browsing
Cons:
Channel editing features are somewhat atypical
Can't just type in TP in channel search, must go through menus to add new TP
Must use "magic" colored buttons on remote for some features, rather than just selecting menu items
Asks for password more than it should need to
Will add the same channel multiple times if the scan is repeated
Channels are numbered sequentially for each TP, so there are multiple channel 001, 002, etc
Don't seem to be able to arrange favorites
Bugs:
video not synced with audio when resuming from pause
Topfield TF 6200F
Performance:
TP Scan: true
Sat Scan: 60 sec 176
Auto/Blind Scan: false
Power On: false
Resume: ~8 sec
Channel Change: <2 sec
Record delay: false
Pros:
Good display message while turning on "run".
Cons:
Bugs:
Doesn't accurately report signal strength